And the lights lie tumbled out like gems
The moon is nothing but a toothless grin
Floating out on the evening wind
The smell of sweat and lube oil pervades the night
And the rush of life in flight at the speed of light

A million footsteps whispering
A guitar sounds — some voices sing
Smoke on the breeze — eyes that sting
Far in the east a yellow cloud bank climbs
Stretching away to be part of tomorrow’s time

Earthbound while everything expands
So many grains of sand
Slipping from hand to hand
Catching the light and falling into dark
The world fades out like an overheard remark
In the falling dark

Light pours from a million radiant lives
Off of kids and dogs and the hard-shelled husbands and wives
All that glory shining around and we’re all caught taking a dive
And all the beasts of the hills around shout, “such a waste!
Don’t you know that from the first to the last we’re all one in the gift of grace!”

Working out on Gavin’s woodpile
Safe within the harmony of kin
Visions begin to crowd my eyes
Like a meteor shower in the autumn skies
And the soil beneath me seems to moan
With a sound like the wind through a hollow bone
And my mind fills with figures like Lappish runes of power1…

And log slams on rough-hewn log
And a voice from somewhere scolds a barking dog.

I remember a bleak-eyed prisoner
In the Stoney Mountain life-suspension home
You drink and fight and damage someone
And they throw you away for some years of boredom
One year done and five more to go —
No job waiting so no parole
And over and over they tell you that you’re nothing…

and I toss another log on Gavin’s woodpile
and wonder at the lamp-warm window’s welcome smile.

I remember crackling embers
Coloured windows shining through the rain
Like the coloured slicks on The English River2
Death in the marrow and death in the liver
And some government gambler with his mouth full of steak
Saying, “If you can’t eat the fish, fish in some other lake.
To watch a people die — it is no new thing.”

And the stack of wood grows higher and higher
And a helpless rage seems to set my brain on fire.

And everywhere the free space fills
Like a punctured diving suit and i’m
Paralyzed in the face of it all
Cursed with the curse of these modern times

Distant mountains, blue and liquid,
Luminous like a thickening of sky
Flash in my mind like a stairway to life —
A train whistle cuts through the scene like a knife
Three hawks wheel in a dazzling sky —
A slow motion jet makes them look like a lie
And I’m left to conclude there’s no human answer near…

But there’s a narrow path to a life to come
That explodes into sight with the power of the sun

A mist rises as the sun goes down
And the light that’s left forms a kind of crown
The earth is bread, the sun is wine
It’s a sign of a hope that’s ours for all time.

Originally released in 1976, In The Falling Dark was the first of a trilogy of recordings, that bridged Bruce Cockburn’s acoustic work of the early 70s with his electic period a decade later. It’s landmark album, one that anounced Cockburn’s arrival as an important songwriter. But it’s also a generative recording planting the creative seeds that came to fruition fully on the subsequent studio albums “Further Adventures Of” and “Dancing In The Dragon’s Jaw”. With its compelling songs and majestic sweep “In The Falling Dark” is a perfect place to discover the impressive range of Bruce Cockburn’s artistry.

Album Info:

Apologies to Tommy Graham who played tambora on “Joy Will Find a Way” and got no credit for it-and to Mose and Heather Scarlett who sang on the same album.

Thanks to “Encounter 76”-the messages were deeply appreciated and the money put to good use.